A GOOD luck message was today sent to Hartlepool by the organisers of this year's spectacular event.
Liverpool hosted 55 ships during this year's races, held last month.
Hartlepool has set itself a target of up to 100 ships coming to Teesside in August 2010.
Around one million people are thought to have visited Merseys for the four-day festiva
l, which is already being hailed as a massive success.
The lessons learned by the Liverpool organisers will now be passed on to their counterparts from Hartlepool as the clock shows two years to go to the event.
Lesley Strickland is the Tall Ships' project officer for Hartlepool and said: "A large delegation went to Liverpool in their own time to see how it works.
"We are trying to get as much information as we can."
Lesley and the Hartlepool Tall Ships' project manager Michelle Daurat will be back in Liverpool tomorrow in their bid to glean as much information as possible about this year's races.
The events held in Liverpool included the famous Parade of Sail and a chance for visitors to glimpse part of the docks never opened to the public before.
The results of a study on the economic impact of the races has yet to be published.
But Judith Feather, the head of events for the Liverpool Culture Company and the Tall Ships' Races organiser for Liverpool, told the Mail: "It was an outstanding success for all the partners involved.
"My message for Hartlepool is to work in partnership with one aim in mind – to have a safe and successful event.
"Hartlepool has a hard act to follow. Newcastle did the races splendidly and we have done it with a more diverse offering.
"My key message is work in partnership, use local expertise and knowledge and have fun with it.
"Ours was very much a partnership event and everyone bought in to it."
Judith believes Hartlepool has one key advantage over Liverpool in hosting the race – its geographical location.
Liverpool had tall ships lined up over a stretch of the Mersey which covered around one and a half miles on a split site whereas Hartlepool's 2010 event will be contained to sites all closely located.
But Liverpool organisers say they will pass on all the lessons they learned as hosts to Hartlepool, to help with its planning of the races.
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